THE House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading the draft
Federal Constitution of the Philippines, which no longer prescribes term limits for lawmakers and contains provisions relaxing foreign ownership restrictions.
Voting 224 affirmatives, 22 negatives and three abstentions, the lower chamber passed the Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 15. House Constitutional Amendments Committee Chairman Vicente Veloso of Leyte said the draft federal charter is a product of two years of public consultations and several other drafts proposed by the PDP-Laban, the Consultative Committee, former ABS Party-list Rep. Eugene de Vera and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales.
RBH 15 is one the priority measures mentioned by President Duterte in his last State of the Nation Address. The resolution will be transmitted to the Senate for its own deliberations.
Foreign ownership
The proposed federal charter amends certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution by relaxing restrictive foreign ownership rules to attract more investments.
RBH 15 will lift some of provisions of the current charter against the entry of foreign investors by inserting a phrase “unless otherwise provided by law.”
Under the draft federal charter’s Section 3, unless otherwise provided by law, private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of the public domain except by lease, for a period not exceeding 25 year, renewable for not more than 25 years and not to exceed 1,000 hectares in area. Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural lands, reclaimed lands, forest or timber lands, mineral lands and national parks.
Also Section 7 indicated that except in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain, unless otherwise provided by law.
Under Section 11, unless otherwise provided by law, no franchise, certificate, or any other form of authorization for the operation of a public utility shall be granted except to citizens of the Philippines or to corporations or associations organized under the laws of the Philippines. Filipinos must own at least 60 percent of the capital. Neither shall any such franchise or right be granted except under the condition that it shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by Congress when the common good so requires.
Term limits
RBH 15, principally authored by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, seeks a presidential-bicameral-federal system of government. It also empowers Congress to establish federal states by convening itself into a constituent assembly.
The draft charter lifts the term limits for members of Congress and requires lawmakers to have a college degree.
Under RBH 15, the first election under the new Constitution shall be held on the second Monday of May 2022.
The term of the president and vice president, which shall end in 2022, will not be extended. The incumbent president is prohibited from running in the 2022 elections.
Under the resolution, in case a vacancy arises by reason of removal, resignation, permanent incapacity or death of the incumbent president, the incumbent vice president shall act as president until a president has been chosen and qualified.
‘Not viable’
Albay Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, who voted against RBH 15, said the Charter change embodied in the resolution is “an initiative that has floundered before it could take off.”
“Its centerpiece agenda on the shift to federalism is a virtual centerfold because it is bare. No less than President Duterte’s economic advisers have exposed it as not economically viable,” Lagman added.
He said the “undue haste” in shifting from the unitary to the federal system of government will cause the “further deterioration” of the economy.
“The President’s chief economist, National Economic and Development Authority [Neda] Director General Ernesto Pernia, has scored the country’s lack of preparedness for a shift to federalism,” Lagman said.
“He [Pernia] said majority of our regions are fiscally ill prepared for federalism. He also said that only the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog [Calabarzon], and lately Cebu, or only four out of the possible 18 federated regions have the political and economic infrastructure that would allow them to adopt federalism,” he added.
Lagman noted that Pernia had observed that implementing federalism before the country is ready would be detrimental to the country’s economy.
He said Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III has, likewise, ventilated his concerns and said the transformation could lead to “dire, irreversible
economic consequences.”